Snapshots
by Cantoris
Summary: A series about the next generation of the Halliwell line of witches. Each chapter features one-or two or all-of the Halliwell cousins in various aspects of their lives. Watch them survive demon attacks and each other as only the Halliwells can.
1. Homecoming

Yeah, I know that the series finale implied that Chris was either the same Chris from season 6 or somehow retained his memories, but that doesn't fit in my head. So this is what I came up with instead.

With a swirl of golden light, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell found himself in the sun room of the manor once again. The only question is, was he in the correct time. He wasn't one to question his mother's magic--even his mother from over two decades ago--but he still wanted to know for his own sake.

"Mom? Chris?"

"In the attic!" his brother called back.

Phew, it seemed like the right time, Wyatt thought as he walked up the stairs. He walked slowly, checking the framed pictures hung on the walls that were defiant of demon attacks. He quickly grazed over the ones of his mother and aunts; those had been there for years. He also passed by the early family portraits Piper had insisted on after Chris had been a few months old. The next few after that were of he, Chris, and their little sister, Melinda growing up. That was promising since in the past he had come from, Melinda hadn't been born yet. Finally, he found the picture taken at his graduation, thankfully, right before his cousin Henry had orbed Wyatt's cap off his head.

Wyatt got to the attic and found Chris leafing through the Book of Shadows without any sense of urgency.

"Are we researching something specific, or just in general?" Wyatt asked.

"Just general. What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing much, I just got back from a little trip to the past," Wyatt causally mentioned.

Chris kept on flipping pages for a few seconds more until realization set in. His head snapped up with an audible 'pop.'

"You were just in the past? Mom told us not to time travel unless we could avoid it. And why didn't you bring me?"

Wyatt smirked. "Please, give me some credit. Actually, it's Mom's fault I went to the past. She conjured me."

"Are we talking about the same Piper Halliwell? She always complains about time travel."

"This was Mom from about twenty years ago. By the way, your baby pictures don't do you justice."

"Huh. Maybe it's your little trip that makes Mom not like time travel. What'd you do, burn down the manor?"

"I resent that."

"Resent what?" Piper interrupted from the doorway.

"Hey, Mom, do you remember conjuring Wyatt from the future when we were little?" Chris asked, straight to the point.

Piper Halliwell colored slightly as she responded, "It was not my intention, but yes, I do remember. I'm guessing you just got back?"

"Yeah, I can't believe I was able to see all that."

"Lucky you, I want to see what Mom and Aunt Paige and Aunt Phoebe were like back then," Chris complained a little.

Piper's face twitched just enough that Wyatt noticed.

"Mom, what is it? You just looked like a demon had come back from a vanquish."

"A lot of things change with time travel that's all," Piper evaded slightly.

"No, it had something to do with the idea of Chris going to the past, not that I blame you."

"I think that it's best if you don't know," Piper said in that tone of voice Wyatt knew not to push.

Chris, however, either didn't hear the tone or didn't care.

"Come on, you never have problems talking about anything else from your demon-fighting days," he protested.

Piper sighed the sigh of all mothers, one of exasperation and grudging acknowledgement.

"I reacted like that because in our time, when Wyatt wasn't even a year old, we met a traveler from the future who introduced himself as Chris Perry." Piper paused and looked at her boys.

"Wait, am I named for this guy or something?" Chris asked.

"No, you were that guy."

Wyatt opened his mouth to say something, but words failed him for a moment. "Wait a second, are you saying that Chris time traveled? Or will time travel... grammar tenses are so confusing sometimes."

"That's impossible. wouldn't I remember it?" Chris protested.

"Not exactly. You changed time, or rather, the other you changed time," Piper explained.

"What did I change?"

Piper hesitated for a moment before answering. "The other Chris went back in time to save his family, specifically, Wyatt."

Wyatt nearly fell over. "How many times did I need saving as a kid? Apparently the other him didn't do such a good job, because I just got back from saving my past self, myself!"

"You didn't really need saving from evil... the other Chris came back to save you from turning evil," Piper explained hesitantly.

"Wyatt? Evil?" Chris stuttered. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"I was evil?" Wyatt asked in a small voice.

Piper frowned. "According to the other Chris, you turned into an evil tyrant and he used a time travel spell to go back and fix it."

"But, I was evil..." Wyatt muttered.

"Wait a minute, you _were _evil?" Chris asked incredulously.

"Only a few hours," Piper corrected. "Your dad was able to turn you back."

"Yeah, something with the teddy bear."

"What else did I change?" Chris asked.

"You made your dad an Elder," Piper answered. "That's what started our separation, and then our reunion, and then a lot of other things which eventually made him mortal."

"I think I need to get away and think a little," Wyatt said.

Piper nodded in acknowledgement. "I understand. Be safe."

Wyatt orbed out before either Piper or Chris could say anything else.

_I was an evil tyrant. Chris' other self went back and changed everything to make sure that I didn't turn evil, and then I end up turning evil for a bit anyway. _The Halliwell children had always heard how the corrupt Elder Gideon had attempted to kill Wyatt as a toddler to eliminate the risk of Wyatt's potential power. Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda had always just assumed that that had been the end of it. Wyatt fought for good just like generations had before him. Now he was forced to re-evaluate that knowledge.

The wind whipped around him, eerily echoing his whirlwind of thought. Wyatt could never remember how, but the top of the Golden Gate Bridge had always been a refuge to his family--or at least those who could orb. Phoebe's children were never comfortable up that high, perhaps because they couldn't orb to a different place if they ever fell. Paige's children loved the spot just as much as Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda because it was at this spot that their father learned the true nature of magic and proposed to their mother.

At that moment, Wyatt desperately needed the isolation to organize his thoughts. Chris must have called the other cousins to let them know some of what had happened because none of them came to him which would have been normal. While not empathic or able to completely sense each other like full whitelighters, most of the cousins were dimly aware of each other and their emotional states.

Finally, Wyatt was forced to reflect on his stint of darkness and his redemption. _Dad got the younger me to trust him. And I didn't stop him. I could have, I could have completely destroyed him if I wanted... But I didn't. Dad's mortal, yeah, we've had to shield him every once in awhile, but he was always there._

Blue lights formed in Wyatt's peripheral vision. In the growing darkness--had it really gotten that late in the day already?--he could just make out the lanky form of his brother. Without a word, Chris sat down a few feet away and merely waited.

"Mom get worried?" Wyatt asked.

"About an hour ago. Dad convinced her that you weren't in danger and to give you more time."

"Huh. I was just thinking about Dad," Wyatt laughed.

"Really, what about Dad?" Chris said as he sat down next to his brother.

"Well, when I was evil, Dad was the one to save me," Wyatt answered.

"Didn't Mom or Aunt Phoebe or Aunt Paige stop you?" Chris asked.

"No. It was just Dad. I had the younger me and I wanted him to get me the Book, but Dad stopped us. He didn't even really do anything, he just broke the spell by himself."

"I can't really believe that you being evil would just stand there while that happened," Chris pointed out skeptically

"But, that's what I did. Or—didn't do. It was about trust, I think. And, Dad was, is, mortal. I could have flattened him in a heart beat, but I didn't."

"Maybe that's why it worked," Chris said as if he were just coming to the conclusion himself.

Wyatt looked at his younger brother closely. "What do you mean?"

"I kind of interrogated Mom a little more about the other version of me who traveled back to the past. Remember how she said that it's because of him that Dad became and Elder, then an Avatar and then mortal? And I think we can agree that Dad being mortal played a huge part in breaking the spell."

"So, it wasn't just stopping Gideon that saved me from being evil, it was changing Dad," Wyatt said.

"Yeah. I guess Mom and Dad never thought about it like that."

"Looks like your other self did accomplish his mission, just not in the way he thought."

"Apparently." Chris looked smug. "See, I'm a genius even by accident."

Wyatt shoved him with a laugh.

"Don't take too much credit. That guy was a totally different person. Genius, right."

Chris accepted the shove and then stood up.

"Ready to go back yet? Mom's making all your favorite foods for dinner."

"You'd think we still lived at the manor for all the dinners we have at home."

"With Mom's cooking? You bet."

The brothers orbed in a swirl of blue lights but someone else was watching. The Chris-that-faded-away had been keeping an eye on them since he had died and disappeared into the magical ether for lack of a better term. He had watched the boys grow up and grow together in ways that Chris-that-was had never had with his brother. But that was the point, wasn't it? His whole scheme was for this purpose. And it had worked. With a final smile, Chris-that-was released his attachment to the ether and passed on to the next stage of life.


	2. Lost Love

So, I decided that the one shot I did was so much fun, that I just had to write more. Each chapter will have a heading with the characters being featured and their age in the chapter. I'm time-hopping, so these are not in chronological order at all. I hope that you enjoy this as much as you did my other and as much as I had writing it. Enjoy!

Prudence Marian Halliwell, age 13

Prue was sure that she had never felt so excited in her entire life. The thirteen year old felt her heart race as she slipped away from her family members on the ground floor and bedrooms of the Halliwell manor and darted up the stairs to the attic. With all three families present for Melinda's eleventh birthday party as well as a few extra people, Prue knew that she wouldn't be missed for a while. Normally, Prue was happy to play with her younger cousins, but today, she felt that the time was right.

Prue knew that her mother, Aunt Piper, and Aunt Paige didn't use the Book of Shadows much, if ever lately. Her mother and Aunt Piper left the demon fighting to younger witches and Aunt Paige functioned more as a whitelighter in the magical community. Supposedly, Wyatt and Chris were allowed to come and look at the book since they were the two oldest of the cousins—as they were known as and even called themselves—and the Book was located in their home so they had an easier time accessing it.

Sure, Prue could probably just ask her mother or either of her aunts to see the Book, but somehow, she felt that it would not go over well. Her aunts would argue that she was too young, and her mother would probably demand a full explanation for why she wanted to see in the first place. The truth was, Prue just sensed that it was time to see her heritage, even if it was a heritage she shared it with eight other people.

So far, no one had even seen Prue leave, but that was how family functions were. All the younger children would be running around and even accidentally using their powers which meant that parents and grandparents (though that was really only Victor and Sam) would have to keep them from causing _too_ much damage. Being empathic, Prue was usually good at knowing which little witch was about to get out of hand and help calm them down. But today was a different story.

Finally, she was there. No longer was the Book displayed on its pedestal for easy access. Prue searched quickly and found the large book off to the side on a table next to a beaten up couch. Apparently, someone had been reading it and left it there. Almost reverently, Prue perched on the couch and reached out to touch the Book. The leather cover had probably been a vibrant green in its earliest years, but the color had faded to the point of a gray-green color that practically screamed "old" to the thirteen year old girl. With shaking hands, Prue traced out the triquerta with one finger and then eased the Book off the table and into her lap as if it would fall to pieces if she moved it too fast.

Prue inhaled deeply as she opened it for the first time. Dust filled her nostrils and then her lungs, but Prue refused the urge to cough. This was special, this was sacred.

She spent the next fifteen minutes exploring the pages as if she could absorb all the information gathered over generations into her very skin and mind. She hadn't realized how much time had passed and jumped when the attic door opened.

"Prue?"

It was her mother. Phoebe Halliwell (she'd also kept her maiden name) walked into the attic of her childhood home and made a beeline for her eldest daughter. Prue froze like a child who was certain that she was about to be reprimanded.

"What are you doing, sweetie?"

"I just—I wanted to see it," Prue answered quietly.

Phoebe hadn't missed what her daughter had been looking at and smiled. She crossed the remaining difference between them and sat down next to Prue on the couch. Phoebe took half of the Book into her own lap and snuggled Prue closer with an arm around her shoulder. Reading her mother's mood, Prue shifted with her mother and lay her head on her mother's shoulder.

"I would have showed you if you really wanted," Phoebe remarked.

"I thought that this made you uncomfortable since you're always saying you want us to have normal childhoods," Prue said sagely, hinting at the type of woman she would grow into.

Phoebe nodded slowly. "There were some very tough times that happened when I was using this," she explained. "We did lose your aunt Prue to magic."

"I know, Mom," Prue cut in, reverting back into a teenaged girl who had heard the same stories for her entire life.

Prue flipped another few pages and stopped when she saw something familiar.

"Mom, that's you!"

Phoebe glanced over at the page and froze just as Prue had done earlier. Of all pages for her daughter to stop on, it had to be Belthazor's page and Cole's the next page. There was still the picture of the two of them glued onto the page.

"Who is that guy and why is he next to a demon's picture?"

"Because he was a demon, sweetie," Phoebe answered truthfully. "He was half demon and half human."

"And you loved him," Prue guessed from looking at the extensive notes next to the human's picture.

"Why do you think that?" Phoebe asked, not to dodge the question, but because she truly wanted to know how powerful her daughter's empathy was.

"That's your handwriting with all those details about him as a human. It reminds me of some of my friends when they talk about boys they like."

Phoebe smiled and caressed Prue's cheek. "You are my smart girl, aren't you?"

Prue giggled and tried to shake off her mother's attention. "Mom."

After a moment, Prue looked back at Phoebe carefully. "What about Daddy?"

It still amused Phoebe that while her girls quickly moved from calling her 'Mommy' to 'Mom,' all three of them still said 'Daddy.'

"That was years before I met your father. It was practically a lifetime in between him and Daddy."

"What happened to him?"

Phoebe drew in a deep breath, breathing in the familiar dust and old book smell like a security blanket.

"He was sent to kill your aunts and me, but we fell in love instead. He decided to fight with us against the other demons and the Source and we eventually got married. By then, he had given up his powers and was mortal. But when we defeated the Source, those powers when to him and so he was evil again. When your aunts and I realized this, we had to vanquish him."

A somewhat simplistic explanation with no where near enough details, but it was all that Phoebe was willing to tell her thirteen year old daughter. She would fill in the gaps more as Prue matured. She was already well on her way to becoming a calm and collected young woman and proved it by placing both of her arms around her mother and squeezing fiercly.

"I'm sorry you had to do that, Mommy," Prue whispered.

Phoebe was sure her heart would burst, though whether because of hug or being called 'Mommy,' she couldn't say.

"That must have been so hard for you," Prue continued. "I'm glad that you have Daddy and that he makes you happy."

"Well, you see why I didn't want you and your sisters seeing this before you were ready," Phoebe moved on. "I don't exactly want to explain to the other two until they understand a little bit about love."

"I'm an empath in junior high," Prue commented. "I'm learning a lot about love, or at least wanting to be in love."

"I've always been glad that I didn't develop my empathy until I was an adult," Phoebe confided in her daughter.

Prue giggled.

Phoebe stretched out her power and tried to get a read on Prue. Phoebe remembered the difficulty she had with her third power. But all Phoebe could sense was contentment and control. Perhaps it was easier to receive new powers at a young age. Wyatt, Chris, Prue, and Melinda did not have nearly as many mishaps with their powers as Phoebe remembered facing with her sisters when they were twice the teens' ages. Even Wyatt's training and power boosts from Excalibur were not nearly as difficult as whenever one of the sisters got a power up grade.

"Now, don't go telling Trish and Nelli that you got to see the Book, all right?" Phoebe asked.

"I won't, Mom." Prue was back to being her serene self. "I think it's time to cut the cake, Melinda just spiked with excitement."

Phoebe once again marveled at her daughter. All nine cousins were just as connected as the sisters ever were. She, Piper, and Paige discussed it frequently and could only wonder at what their children would accomplish when demons and warlocks banded together once again. It was expected to happen within the next few years, just as most of the Halliwell descendants would be young adults.

'Another day,' Phoebe told herself and followed Prue downstairs just in time to sing to Melinda.

Prue resumed her normal activities of playing with the younger cousins. By then, the Halliwell clan had grown enormous. Melinda was Leo and Piper's last child and their only little girl. The poor thing also had two protective older brothers. Phoebe herself found her three little brunettes: Prue had six year old Nelli—short for Penelope—on her back while Patricia, or Trish, ran around with Melinda being only a year younger. Paige had surprised them all with twin girls who were blond to boot. At least Wyatt wasn't the only light headed one. Gabrielle and Madeline were already forming distinct personalities and refused to even dress alike and they were only eight years old. Paige also had a little boy named Henry which meant that the three boy Halliwells were at the extremes with all the girls in the middle.

They were the future of good magic, and already, Phoebe knew that magic was in good hands.


	3. Twins

I got on a roll after Prue's chapter and thought that since I had one of Piper's boys and then Phoebe's first daughter, I should keep the pattern and do one for Paige. I'll keep bouncing around like that if possible and probably also start branching out in the families and have some cousin interaction as well. So, here are Paige's twins.

Gabrielle Skye and Madeline Grace Mitchell, age 18

When Maddi thought about it, powers were funny things, especially for those in the Halliwell line. But analyzing personalities based on their powers was more like something Skye would do. Skye could sit for hours thinking about an issue or an observation without realizing it. Maddi was more of a "take charge" kind of girl. Her aunts Piper and Phoebe told her that she was a lot like their sister, Prue. Maddi liked that comparison. It made her feel strong and justified whenever Skye told her she was being too impulsive. Like she had just the other day.

_"You were out demon hunting again, weren't you?"_

_Maddi didn't even look up from putting ice on her bruised ankle. Skye walked into the bathroom the sisters shared and closed the door behind her. Skye also reached across her sister's body and took the ice pack from her._

_"You can't just put the ice on it, you need a towel in between it and your skin or you'll get frostbite," Skye commented quietly, looking at Maddi intensely. "Maddi, why?"_

_"You're not Mom, you know," Maddi complained. "Why do you have to act like it?"_

_"Because I worry about you. Even Chris does some kind of research before he goes to the Underworld."_

_"Look, Skye, just because we're twins, doesn't mean we can interfere with each other's lives," Maddi objected. "I'm being myself. I can't be like you. Always hiding, staying in the background, never risking anything! Sometimes I think that our powers got switched at birth, you know? I should have gotten the deflection because I'm the one getting attacked all the time and you would be so much happier if you could be invisible, wouldn't you?"_

_Skye stopped looking at Maddi's ankle. _

_"If that's what you think."_

_Skye got up and left. After a moment, Maddi cursed under her breath. While her aunts spoke of how she resembled Prue in temperament, her mom always said that she had inherited her father's tact. Or, really the lack thereof. Maddi reached for the wrap bandage on the sink and tied it securely around the ice pack. By the time she hobbled out of the bathroom, Skye had already left for the library._

_"Honey, what happened?" Paige looked up from the newspaper._

_"Just a track accident, Mom," Maddi lied. "I'm going to catch up with Skye."_

_"Okay, try to be back by dinner."_

_"Will do."_

_Maddi—always one to use her powers when needed—orbed to a shady spot near the library. With a small groan of pain, she began to limp her way down the sidewalk. She was a block away from the library when she felt an energy ball come whizzing past her ear. Maddi spun, nearly tripping in the process, and felt herself go invisible._

_"Not so fast, witch, you won't sneak up on me like that again," the warlock said and tossed a potion at her feet. Maddi's body came into focus slowly, like a film screen. _

_"And don't think of orbing away either," the warlock continued. "That potion disrupts all magic for at least an hour. But I don't think that I'll need that much time."_

_"You think I'm unprepared you bastard?" Maddi demanded, reaching for the potions she kept on her at all times. She skipped the stun potion and went straight for the general vanquish one. It was flying through the air with only a thought, striking the warlock on the left shoulder. He staggered slightly, but didn't go up in fiery glory._

_"Nice try, witch." Another fire ball came hurtling toward Maddi. She couldn't leap out of the way like she wanted to, but she could drop to the ground. The fireball flew over her head and then bounced back and flew back to the warlock. Maddi looked over her shoulder and saw her sister standing with her deflection hand shield still activated in her hand._

_Before the warlock could do anything else, Skye also reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a small vial._

_"Throw the stun!" Skye called out._

_Maddi followed instructions and threw her other potion from the ground. Her aim was slightly off, but it did the trick. The potion didn't quite have the same effect as Melinda's freezing power, but it was close enough. Skye came and helped Maddi to her feet, keeping an arm around her shoulders to hold her upright. Suddenly, Maddi could swear that she heard her sister speaking without moving her mouth. Apparently, Skye was making up a spell on the spot, and somehow, Maddi was able to follow her thought process._

_Balance of power, balance of love_

_Strike this demon from above._

_Witches might and witches mind_

_In our bond the magic find._

For the first time in their collective memories, Maddi and Skye found themselves united in a way that they didn't even know was possible. Not that the twin sisters became inseparable after that; Skye was still frustrated with Maddi and Maddi still annoyed with Skye. But, strangely enough, Maddi found herself on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, staring at the clouds for hours. Yes, she still found it odd that their powers seemed to contradict their paths in magic. Even Maddi realized that not everyone could be a warrior like she was. Their family especially needed witches like Skye who loved research and always managed to find answers. It was Skye who realized that Maddi had developed a new power: telepathy of all things. No one in the family had gotten a power upgrade in a while, so no one had thought it was a possibility anymore. But as always, Skye analyzed the events and put them into context.

So, Maddi may still rush into things without thinking much if at all, and of course Skye still was cautious to the point of almost never acting at all, but that was why they were twins. They complimented each other in ways that not even siblings could. Maddi would always be there to drag Skye out of her shell and Skye would always be there to drag Maddi back from danger. They were witches together, sisters together, but above all, twins.


	4. A Family Blessed

Wow, I'm really on a roll here. This chapter is thanks to Phoenixlighter, who wanted to see Wyatt and Chris returning home after the series finale and Melinda waiting for them. So, this is what I came up with. To everyone else, I'll include a list of all the cousins at the end of this chapter to help you think of ideas to give me. Requests and suggestions are always welcome.

Melinda Faith Halliwell, aged 20

It had been an average day. Damn, it had even been an average demon attack that interrupted that average day. Melinda had been taking a walk in the park after her classes were done for the day. Her cousin Trish had caught up to her and not two seconds later, a swarm of demons and warlocks cornered them. Wyatt and Chris must have sensed their sister in trouble and orbed to help, bringing Prue along as well. Even the five of them working together didn't immediately push their enemies back. It might not have been an easy win, but the cousins weren't exactly being beat either. That is, until Wyatt moved to push some back with his energy shield and nothing happened.

"Wyatt!" Melinda shouted, being the only one to see a demon take advantage of the situation. Melinda blasted the demon away—her heritage from her mother—and raced to her brother's side.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he kept reassuring her, but Melinda didn't leave him.

"Regroup!" she called to Chris, Prue, and Trish.

Several years before, when demon fighting was still relatively new, all the older cousins created a series of codes they could use to communicate in front of demons without them catching on. "Regroup" meant the Book of Shadows which meant Halliwell manor attic.

"I can't orb," Wyatt said in confusion with a frown on his face.

Melinda grabbed his hand and orbed to safety, seeing Chris grab the girls and orb as well. They met once again in the attic. Wyatt slumped to the ground, still frowning.

"What happened?" Chris demanded. "Did they hit you with something?"

"No, none of them touched me," Wyatt answered.

"Didn't Skye mention that Maddi got hit with a magic disrupter potion a month back?" Trish asked.

"She did, but I didn't see Wyatt get hit with a potion," Melinda answered.

"Well, maybe they found a way without a potion," Chris pointed out.

"This is pointless speculation," Prue cut in. "We need to trace the problem to the moment that Wyatt lost his powers."

Melinda grabbed the pad of paper and pencil from a nearby table and got to work. Moments later, with input from all the others of course, Melinda handed the spell to Wyatt.

"You shouldn't go alone," Melinda told her brother, refusing to listen to any argument.

"I'll go with," Chris said. "You three stay here in case this is a multiple attack strategy."

"I'll start checking in with the others," Trish offered, pulling out her phone.

Wyatt and Chris read the spell and then disappeared in swirls of yellow light.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Maddi asked, orbing in. Skye and Henry with Nelly were right behind her.

"No," Melinda answered.

"It happened that way for a reason," Prue tried to stem any panic.

"So, what do we do now?" Henry asked.

"We wait," Melinda said.

It was only twenty minutes later that both boys returned in the same yellow swirls. The others had trooped down to the kitchen to wait so only Melinda was there to greet them. By the smiles on their faces, Melinda knew that somehow or another, the spell had worked and Wyatt probably had his powers back. Melinda smiled back and leaped into their arms. Wyatt and Chris picked her up, all three of them spinning around wildly.

"We were in the past," Wyatt told her. "Everyone was there, Mom, Aunt Paige and Phoebe, Dad—well eventually—Uncle Coop and Uncle Henry—"

"Yeah, you totally blew it for Uncle Coop!" Chris interrupted.

"How was I supposed to know that Aunt Phoebe hadn't admitted she loved him yet?" Wyatt demanded.

"You got to see them all?" Melinda asked.

By then, the brothers had let her down and all three lounged on the couch.

"Yeah, and Grandpa was there too, and apparently, Mom had brought Grandma and Grams from the past with Uncle Coop's ring, too."

"Wow, talk about a family reunion," Melinda joked. "I wish I could have seen it." She thought for a moment. "Why do you two always get to time travel? Honestly, this is getting old."

"Sorry, Mel, but it just happens," Wyatt said.

Melinda only grumbled for a moment more. "So, you figured out what happened?"

"Yeah, apparently, we can blame Billie," Chris said.

"Wait, as in friend-of-the-family Billie?" Melinda asked. "Professor of women's studies, _my_ professor Billie?"

"Yeah, she caused this ripple in time space because there were two versions of the future that could happen and for a little bit, it was the not-good one where I didn't have any powers because she and her sister stole my powers with the Hollow, but then we all fixed it and now we have the future that was supposed to happen all along," Wyatt rambled.

Melinda and Chris, well used to this, merely exchanged glances. "Okay, so short answer, we fixed it and he has his powers back," Chris translated.

"Gotcha. Well, everyone else is downstairs in the kitchen, I think."

"Don't tell me they're cooking," Wyatt asked in mock fear.

"Let's hope it's only Prue," Chris prayed.

Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda met their cousins downstairs and found only a small amount of chaos in the kitchen. Prue was indeed the only one really cooking, but the others had small assignments as well. Maddi and Trish were setting the dining room table for all of them, not out of any sense of formality, but it was the only table big enough. Skye was keeping track of the various recipes being used while Nelli and Henry did most of the prep work for the meal. Wyatt and Chris jumped in to help or supervise, repeating their adventure to the cousins.

Melinda remained at the door, watching her family interact. It would only be the nine of them since all the parents were out celebrating one anniversary or another. The cousins hadn't even planned on getting together that night, but they needed little provocation to. Melinda's attention broke away from the kitchen when she heard the front door open and close. Always cautious, Melinda ducked behind a cabinet until she recognized Billie Jenkins.

"Hey, Melinda—" Billie said, trailing off as Melinda herded her into the living room.

"Wyatt and Chris just came back from a little jaunt in the past," Melinda explained quietly. "We wanted to find out why Wyatt lost his powers suddenly."

Most of the color in Billie's face drained away and she sat down with a thud.

"Oh. I guess they might not want to see me right now."

"Just let me warn them that you're here and then you can join us for dinner," Melinda invited.

Billie looked up in surprise. "How can you say that to me with what you know?"

Melinda shrugged slightly. "Just because you made a mistake before most of us were born, doesn't change the fact that you're practically family. You baby-sat us when we were little, you help teach us our magic, and you even are one of my professors in college. What else is there to know?"

"I betrayed your mothers…"

"Yeah, and according to just some of the stories we kids have learned over the years, Mom and Aunt Paige and Aunt Phoebe betrayed each other a few times a year. It's like they took turns or something," Melinda joked.

Billie managed a small smile.

Melinda jumped suddenly, then shouted over her shoulder, "Honestly Maddi, I'm right here! You don't have to use your telepathy for every little thing!" Turning back to Billie, Melinda rolled her eyes. "They know you're here and Nelli wants to tell you about some boy, magic help us all. I'll be right there."

Billie joined the others in the kitchen while Melinda gathered her thoughts. It was true that all of the cousins accepted Billie as a pseudo-aunt. They all knew the basic story of Billie's first year with the sisters, including that critical battle. This instance just seemed like an echo to the stories, or like a missing piece of the puzzle. If they held grudges for every little grievance, none of them would talk to each other or their parents.

Melinda always felt surprised that when she and her friends outside of magic talked about their families, Melinda always seemed to have the relationships that the others wanted. Some didn't get along with their mothers, they never spoke with their siblings, grandparents who still lived were either awful or absent. And yet, Melinda had two wonderful, supportive parents, two brothers who would protect her at all costs, aunts and uncles who looked after her like their own, and cousins that were close enough to be best friends and comrades in battle. Grandpa Vic and Grandpa Sam were like grandfathers to all nine of them and even represented their two sets of heritage: mortal and magical.

Wyatt may have been the only "twice blessed" child acknowledged by the magical community, but Melinda knew in her heart that all nine of them led magical lives.

Piper's kids: Wyatt (25), Chris (23), Melinda (20)

Phoebe's kids: Prue (22), Trish (19), Nelli (15)

Paige's kids: Skye and Maddi (18), Henry (16)


	5. A Pinch of Salt

Classes would be so fun if it weren't for all that homework you have to do. Hi, I know it's been longer waiting for this chapter versus my others, but blame reality. I at least have rough outlines for up to ten chapters. Suggestions still very welcome (outlines are VERY vague) and speaking of suggestions... to piperspeanut, I am taking your suggestion, just not in the way you thought. I hope that's okay. Thing is, because of the pattern I've developed, that chapter will be in a little bit. I want to try to let all the characters get the spotlight before I do repeats. Okay, business is taken care of, so happy reading!

Patricia Charity Halliwell, age 7

Tris sat in absolute misery outside of the principal's office. She couldn't hear very well through the door, so she swung her legs which couldn't touch the floor and hummed under her breath in an effort to distract herself. The door opened and Tris flinched, but it was only one of the secretary's aides, running a message. The nice lady flashed Trish a small smile and walked down the hallway. She had forgotten to shut the door behind her. Tris could now hear the two voices in the office.

"Mr. Daimer, this is a serious matter. Your daughter has been telling lies about seeing fairies and trolls."

"I don't see how that is so harmful," Coop argued.

"Her teacher has reported that children walking through doorways near Tris have repeatedly been tripped. Tris never admits to doing this and blames in on trolls instead. It has been going on for at least a month."

In the hallway, Tris sighed. She knew that she shouldn't have spoken about the trolls, but the teacher had kept her inside during recess for a week, waiting for an explanation. So, Tris had tried to explain about tween places and how nasty trolls were, but the teacher had only called in the principal who had in turn called her parents.

Finally, Tris' father came out of the office. He knelt in front of his daughter with a smile. "Do you have your things, sweetie?"

Tris could only nod, feeling absolutely certain that she would be punished. Instead, her father stood and took her by the hand, walking them both out of the building. Once they were in the car—which Coop had insisted be bright red—her father made sure she was buckled in safely in the back seat.

"I'm not mad at you, Tris. I believe you about the trolls and I understand why you told your teacher. Sweetie, do you know why the trolls are picking on you?"

Again, Tris nodded, but wouldn't speak. Her father sighed and continued the drive in silence in the hope that Phoebe could get more out of the girl. At home, Tris headed to her room and flopped on her bed. Her mother wasn't home yet, so she knew that her father would leave her alone until then. Her little sister, Nellie, was playing out in the living room with blocks and Prue was still at school having not been sent home like Tris.

Tris reached out to the music box on her nightstand. It was one of her favorite gifts from her parents being painted white and pink with a dancing fairy that popped up when the lid opened. Tris opened the box and touched the fairy, concentrating on her friends. Tris saw a flash in her mind and smiled. It only took a moment more of concentration before she flew out of her body and landed in a scenic meadow covered with flowers.

Tris returned to her body an hour later, just before Prue walked into Tris' bedroom.

"Did you just astral project?" the ten year old demanded incredulously.

"What's that?" Tris asked honestly.

"Your body stayed here, but you traveled somewhere else," Prue explained.

"Oh. I think so," Tris answered.

"Where did you go?"

"To see the fairies. They left some special dust in my music box and so when I touch it, I see where they are and then, poof, I'm there."

"Why can't they just come and see you?"

"The trolls will follow them or they'll follow me. That's why they won't leave me alone in school."

"How long has this been going on? And you haven't told any of us?"

"The fairies said that no one would believe me and that big kids and adults can't see them anyway."

"No, Mom said that she and Aunt Piper once saw fairies and they were grown up. Besides, that's only true for normal people. We're witches, we know fairies are real, so that's why we can see them no matter how old we are."

"Oh, I didn't think of that."

Prue held out her hand for her sister and walked her out of the room. Their father was still the only one home.

"Daddy, I'm helping Tris with this troll problem, we'll be back later," Prue explained as if a ten year old and a seven year old were allowed outside by themselves all the time.

"Just a second, girls," Coop argued. "You are not leaving the house alone."

"We won't be alone," Prue assured him before shouting out, "Wyatt! We need help."

There was a larger clump of blue lights that settled in the house which was explained when Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda orbed in. Before her father could say or do anything else, Prue dragged Tris over to their cousins. The boys took all the girls' hands and orbed on command. Since Prue hadn't given them a destination, they solidified on top of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"Wyatt, why do you always have to come here?" Prue complained, keeping a vice-grip on his hands. Tris was likewise staying close Chris. Melinda, while not able to orb, felt more secure, but she didn't wander too far away.

"Whatever, what's the problem and why did we run from Uncle Coop?" Chris asked. The eleven year old was quickly developing into a driven witch that always needed something to do.

"Trolls are bothering Tris at school even and won't let up. She's been giving them the slip by astral projecting to her fairy friends so they can't follow her."

"You can astral project?" Melinda asked in awe.

"I guess so," Tris answered honestly enough.

"So we need to find some way to defeat countless trolls?" Chris summed up, slightly sarcastically.

"What if we worked on reinforcing the fairies' strongholds so that even if a troll knows where they are, they can't get in," Wyatt suggested.

"With what, spells?" Prue asked.

"What about salt?" Tris said. "Didn't Mom say once that salt makes bad things hurt?"

All four of the others turned to Tris in disbelief. Wyatt smacked himself on the head. "Of course, it's the most basic purifying substance."

"So we basically need rings of salt around the fairy hideouts," Prue said. "That's simple enough."

With a plan in mind, the five of them set out to raid their pantries for salt and then convinced the fairies to let them help. It didn't take a lot of argument. Once a number of the fairies' shelters were protected, Wyatt and Chris also orbed them all to the school to spread salt into the dirt around the playground so that trolls couldn't even get on school grounds, let alone in the building.

"That should do it," Wyatt said as they orbed into Prue and Tris' house. "Let us know how it works out, kiddo."

Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda orbed out just as Coop and Phoebe burst into Tris' bedroom.

"Where have you been?" Phoebe demanded. "Do you know how worried we've been? Your father couldn't even trace you all the time."

Tris looked up at Prue and smiled. "It must have worked then if Daddy couldn't find us then the trolls won't either!"

"You were fighting the trolls?" Coop asked.

"No, Daddy," Prue answered. "We were just helping the fairies and then putting salt around the school so the trolls can't bother Tris anymore, that's all."

Both parents stood in stunned silence.

Later that night, Phoebe tucked Tris into bed. Prue was also in bed—the girls shared a room—but she had a small light so she could read for another half hour.

"I'm proud of both you," Phoebe told her girls before closing the door behind her.

Once she was gone, Tris got out of bed and joined Prue in hers.

"Can I still as-tral pro-ject to see the fairies?" Tris asked, carefully pronouncing the words.

Prue hugged her sister under the covers. "Sure. That's just you practicing your power. There's nothing wrong with that."

Tris snuggled closer and closed her eyes. "Good night."

"Sweet dreams."

Tris giggled.

"What?"

"Just wait until Nellie is old enough to come to magic stuff with us. Won't it be fun?"

By the way, I realized that I made a really stupid assumption about Melinda's powers. Since Leo was mortal when she was born, she wouldn't be half whitelighter like her brothers. So in the previous chapter when she orbs with Wyatt, just pretend that Chris orbed everybody because I don't have enough time to go back and change it.


	6. Child in Arms

This is much shorter than normal, but it still seems appropriate as it is, so I'm not going to try to add anything else just to make it longer. This chapter starts with people other than the cousin who is the main focus, but it was still something that I felt these ficlets needed, especially with the characters involved. It gets to the main character about half way through, don't worry.

Henry Samuel Mitchell, just born

Bright blue eyes looked up at Paige Mitchell in absolute adoration. Paige held her little boy close, breathing in the scent of him. It had been a small surprise, meeting her son for the first time. The sisters had decided that Wyatt and Chris were anomalies considering all the children born to the Charmed ones after those two were all girls. Piper's Melinda, Phoebe's two girls, and Paige's twins seemed to be making up for the two earlier surprises. But now, Paige had a precious baby boy in her arms and she couldn't be happier.

"Paige?"

Paige tore her gaze from her still unnamed son and saw her father in the doorway. Sam visited much more often lately, especially with two granddaughters to spoil but also to finally connect with his daughter.

"Hey, Dad. You have a grandson," Paige said dreamily, still under the effect of the medications a little.

"I heard that," he replied. The whitelighter walked into the room and sat down in the chair next to Paige's bed. "Henry nearly shouted it at the top of his lungs."

Paige smiled. "That's my Henry."

"Yes, you certainly picked an interesting man for a husband," Sam remarked. It was a long standing joke between them. "I think he's just glad to get another guy in the house so he's not surrounded by women. How that Coop manages it…"

"Do you want to hold him?" Paige asked.

Just like when the twins were born, the moment that Sam held his grandson was magical in and of itself. He found himself mesmerized by the wide awake blue eyes just as Paige had been moments earlier. Watching him and remembering the same moment when he had held Gabrielle and Madeline at the same time, Paige finally voiced what she had been feeling for two years.

"I understand now," she said quietly.

Sam looked up in confusion. "Understand what?"

"I understand why you couldn't bear the thought of me embracing my heritage as a witch after you gave me up," Paige elaborated. "Now that I have my children, I can only imagine how hard it was for you and Mom to give me away to perfect strangers to protect me."

Without answering with words, Sam kept his grandson in one arm and reached out to embrace his daughter.

"I didn't believe in magic again until you saved me," he told her. "And when you tried to shut off your whitelighter side, it felt like you were rejecting me. And now that you've become such an amazing guide and mother, Paige, I can't tell you how proud I am."

"Dad…"

"No, you don't have to say anything. I just, I should have said that a while ago."

Paige reached out and stroked her son's cheek, then left her hand on her father's shoulder.

"You know, Henry wants to have a 'Henry junior' but I don't see why we can't have his middle name be Samuel."

A smile spread slowly across Sam's face. "I would be honored."

Nine years later…

Henry thought that he had a pretty cool life. His dad was a cop, his mom wasn't mushy or anything embarrassing. Even his sisters weren't that bad; Skye helped him with his homework and Maddi taught him soccer and basketball. But, his favorite person in the world was his grandpa Sam.

Grandpa Sam came at least once a week no matter what for as long as he could until one of his charges needed him. Sometimes, Grandpa would take Henry and his sisters and his parents if they had time. But, more often than not, Henry's mom and dad let them have Grandpa to themselves. There were even times in between those weekly visits that Grandpa would come and take one of them and take them somewhere special. Just one kid and Grandpa with no other distractions.

Grandpa Sam knew tons about magic, just like Uncle Leo. But Uncle Leo was always teaching which was too much like school work for Henry. Grandpa Sam just talked with him, telling him stories about when he was a whitelighter before Mom was born. Skye and Maddi were such girls because they loved hearing about Grandpa Sam and Grandma Patty, but Henry loved the demon stories. And even better, Grandpa Sam made everything a game, especially orbing. Skye didn't like orbing much and Maddi had to be reminded that she should walk more, but Henry loved playing orb-tag. Just like normal tag, there were rules and boundaries, but it was so much fun!

Henry only wished that he could tell his friends about how cool magic was, but everyone always said that magic had to be kept a secret. It didn't bother Henry that much. Keeping magic a secret was the best game of all and Grandpa Sam was part of the game.

"Caught you!" Grandpa Sam called out, coming up behind Henry and seizing him around the waist to hoist him over his shoulder. "You tricky little witch, you almost had me that time."

Giggling like a maniac, Henry scrambled out of his grandfather's hold and had a brilliant idea.

"Catch me again, Grandpa!"

Henry orbed out of the room before getting caught again, trusting that his Grandpa Sam would always be able to find him. So far, he hadn't failed.


	7. Once and Future King

Wow, this one came out quickly. I always knew that I wanted to do a chapter with Wyatt in this fashion, so it was really fun for me to write and I hope that it's fun for you to read. For those that like evil Wyatt, I tried to put a little bit of that in here, but still keep him as good Wyatt.

Second order of business, thank you to everyone who has reviewed! So, that means: piperspeanut, lizardmonna, future author at work, ImagingThings, My Ela Enchanted, Chloe Turner, blueeyesbetter and Phoenixlighter. When I saw 18 reviews today, I did a happy dance and scared just about everyone who knows me. So, keep reading and reviewing, and remember that I love suggestions.

Wyatt Matthew Halliwell, aged 16

In later years, they would look back on that day and acknowledge that it was the first real reappearance of demons. It wasn't that demons had completely disappeared during the quiet fourteen odd years, but there wasn't a lot of action to comment on. Stories from Aunt Paige were more about guiding witches and potential whitelighters than actually protecting them. It was almost as if the sisters forgot that demons would ever surface again.

But somehow, Wyatt and Chris knew. It was always there in the back of their minds. Wyatt never really talked about it with any of the others, even Melinda. It was just between the two oldest Halliwells. So, as soon as they guessed that their mother wouldn't hit the roof, Wyatt and Chris began studying the Book a little everyday as well as helping the other hone his powers. Orbing was easiest; they turned it into a game with each other and Melinda just as Grandpa Sam did (even Wyatt, Chris, Melinda, Prue, Tris, and Nellie called him Grandpa Sam).

Wyatt's shields and Chris' telekinesis were a little more complicated. At first, Wyatt focused on increasing the size of the shield to cover more and more area until he could protect everything within ten feet of himself. Then, Chris would use his power to try to get through by pushing into the shield. There was a point where Chris actually moved the shield itself and everything in it like it was an enormous ball. That had been a good day.

It was all worth it as soon as the first attack happened. As luck would have it, all the cousins were at the Manor being watched by Grandpa Victor while all the parents went out for dinner. Nellie, Henry, Maddi, Skye, and Tris were already asleep in two bedrooms upstairs. Wyatt, Chris, Prue, and Melinda were still awake and watching a movie. Grandpa Victor was with them, reading a book. It should have been one of many quiet nights where the cousins had a group sleepover. It wasn't.

At least fifteen demons shimmered into the living room around the couch where all four of them were sitting. A split second before they attacked, Prue felt a glimmer of negativity with her empathic senses. She screamed even as she was turning around to find the source of the feelings. Wyatt's shield sprang up without a conscious thought to cover those immediately near him.

"Grandpa, get over here!" Chris shouted.

The older man sprang toward his grandchildren with as much speed as he could gather at such short notice. Wyatt helped him by expanding his shield. They were all together and protected just as the demons began throwing fireballs.

"What about the others upstairs?" Prue demanded, maintaining her compsure.

"Chris, take Grandpa and Prue and guard the kids," Wyatt ordered. "Mel, you're with me. Go!"

Wyatt dropped the shield a breath before he and his brother orbed to their respective places in the house. Wyatt had taken himself and Melinda into the attic.

"Potions," he said shortly.

Melinda hurried to the table that he and Chris set up months earlier in the corner for potion-making.

"Blue is general vanquish."

Melinda came back to his side with fistfuls of vials in her hands just in time for the demons to follow them upstairs.

"Kill the brats," one demon ordered another. "Less trouble later on."

"I'll show you trouble," Melinda responded, throwing one vial at the demon who spoke. He shimmered away, escaping the vial, but the demon behind him didn't think to do the same. The vial sent the demon into fiery glory before going up in smoke. Melinda kept throwing potions and attempting to freeze the demons. It was her only power. Wyatt used his sister's distraction and cover to flip through the Book at a frantic speed. There was nothing that he could find before being attacked himself. The Book closed shut and hid under a chair in the attic while a demon hit Wyatt hard in the chest, sending him sprawling on the floor.

"Wyatt!" Chris had just orbed into the attic, following the sounds of battle.

"Get the little kids out of the house!" Wyatt ordered.

"The twins are on it, don't worry," Chris answered, fighting his way past demons to his brother's side.

"Great, now get Melinda and the Book and go get help." Wyatt began fighting hand-to-hand for lack of potions and his shield was only useful in defense.

"We're not leaving you," Melinda called over from where three demons had backed her into a corner.

Chris looked over and flung his arm sideways, sending those three demons flying into the wall. Melinda hopped over their bodies to take on more demons. She was just barely past the last one when he suddenly sprang up and grabbed the girl around the neck.

"Melinda!" Chris called out, effectively stopping all fighting in the attic. Both Halliwell boys and the remaining six demons stopping, waiting to see what would happen next.

"Let her go!" Wyatt demanded.

"No," the demon answered calmly.

For a moment, Wyatt was sure that he saw red across his whole field of vision. But even in extreme anger, he saw something flash in one corner of the room. It was an object that he had always known about in the back of his head, but had never really considered a lot.

Excalibur.

Later on, Chris would tell him that he had said the name out loud, but Wyatt honestly didn't mean to. One heart beat later, and the comforting metal hilt was in both of his hands. Another heart beat and Wyatt was a blur of motion, taking out the five demons around himself and his brother until just the one holding Melinda remained.

"I'm only going to tell you once to let my sister go," Wyatt threatened.

"You think that you intimidate me?" the demon demanded. "You may be the new King Arthur, but right now, you're still just a half-grown witch with a toy."

"That's what you think."

Wyatt lunged with Excalibur strong and steady in his hand. Melinda's eyes widened as the blade came close to her side, but remained still as Wyatt aimed directly for the demon behind her. The demon let go of the girl and dodged the sword just in time for the blade to slice through the side of his mid-section. Melinda darted away as soon as she was free into Chris' waiting arms.

The demon felt his side and brought his hand up to see his own blood.

"This is just the beginning."

"We're ready for you," Wyatt said, still holding the sword aloft toward the demon.

"We'll be back."

Once he shimmered out, Chris and Melinda walked over to Wyatt. It was only after each of his siblings put hands on his shoulders that he relaxed his guard. Wyatt let Excalibur rest on the floor and used his free hand to grab Melinda in a tight embrace.

"What do we tell Mom?" Melinda asked.

"The truth," Chris answered. "Demons are back and we need to be ready."

Over the next few days, Wyatt kept Excalibur close to him, not out of any sense of protection, but it was as if the sword was a part of him that he couldn't let go yet. At first, his mother had tried to argue with him—she was worried that the teachers or principal at school would find it in his locker—but his dad must have talked with her to let him alone. There must have been a lot of discussion between the parents in those few days, because it took that long for them to agree to let the children begin lessons at magic school. Wyatt, Chris, Prue, Melinda, and Tris all attended lessons three afternoons a week as well as half the day on Saturday and Sunday. The younger children were allowed to stay with Aunt Paige to learn their personal powers until they were deemed old enough to start formal training.

Wyatt quickly assumed the leadership role among his siblings and cousins. The first day at magic school, Tris and Melinda especially remained close to him while Chris and Prue stuck together. They were the next generation of Halliwell witches and they were ready to prove it to the world.


	8. Baby's First Vanquish

Um, wow. 22 reviews. I think my head is spinning.

This chapter, for some reason, was a little more difficult. Thanks go out to Chloe Turner for added incentive to get this chapter out. Thanks also go to my sister, Mab (I can't remember her author name right now) for helping me think out the action of the chapter.

Piperspeanut, next chapter, I promise! Everyone else, I'm serious about wanting suggestions. As you can see, I will mostly likely use them in some way.

All right, business is done, on to the fun! (oo, that rhymed and I didn't even mean to)

Penelope Mina Halliwell, aged 11

It didn't take long for Nellie to realize that it was bad enough being the youngest of three girls, but it was worse being the youngest of nine cousins. She was protected, sheltered, and taken care of as if she was completely incapable of doing anything for herself. It wasn't as if she didn't have any powers of her own. She could levitate in addition to creating spells and potions better than some of her older cousins. But Tris was special because she already had two powers. Prue had mastered empathy with ease and was brilliant at making potions. The twins were always busy arguing with each other to notice anything else and Melinda was always trying to keep them from killing each other. Wyatt and Chris were all right, but each was so powerful that frankly all the other cousins were in their shadows.

Henry understood what it was like. He might not have sisters that were older than him by a significant amount like Nellie did, but it was close enough. The two of them were often paired together anyway when they were finally allowed to start lessons at magic school. It was always this way for the cousins: Wyatt, Chris, and Prue were in the most advanced classes, Melinda, Tris, Skye, and Maddi were grouped together, and last came the two babies, Henry and Nellie.

Henry at least stood out as being one of the three Halliwell boys. Nellie often felt like one of the many Halliwell girls where one was as good as another. At least, that was some of their fellow magic students claimed. Henry tried to shield her from the worst, but it wasn't like that was helping anything.

Something had to change, and Nellie had no idea how to do it.

Later, she would blame it on Halliwell luck that magic interfered for her.

Nellie was practicing her potions, enjoying an afternoon to herself. Her mom was still at the paper, her dad was dealing with a crisis with one of his couples. Normally, the cousins would all be gathered together to head to magic school now that all of them were in lessons, but it was a day decreed by the moms that the kids got to do normal things. So, Henry was with friends playing basketball, Maddi had track practice, and Skye was attending a literary magazine meeting. Tris was at play practice and Melinda had her job at the local climbing wall. Having graduated high school already, Wyatt, Chris, and Prue didn't attend magic school as often and functioned as full witches.

All in all, nothing extraordinary should have happened that day. So of course, disaster happened.

Nellie nearly jumped out of her skin when her three oldest cousins orbed in behind her in the manor attic. She looked guilty, expecting a lecture on brewing potions by herself without supervision, but the three witches barely acknowledged her and instead headed straight for the Book.

"What's going on? Did something happen?" Nellie demanded.

"Premonition of a witch sacrifice in the underworld," Prue explained shortly.

"Found him," Chris announced. "Upper level demon named Rokar, kills witches in full ceremony to harvest their powers and souls at the same time. The powers he keeps or doles out to followers, the souls he feeds on."

"Let's go," Wyatt said, loading up on potions.

"I can help," Nellie offered hopefully.

"Not this time, sweetheart," Prue responded without even considering it.

Carefully, Nellie slipped some of the potions she had just brewed into her pockets and waited for the right time. Chris took Prue's hand and nodded to Wyatt. Just as the three went up in blue lights, Nellie leaped and clung to Wyatt's back.

The cousins re-formed in a dank tunnel that was lit by a single torch. Nellie fell off of Wyatt and landed on the ground. The witch hailed as the new King Arthur turned on her and glared. Chris and Prue also looked around and spotted the youngest Halliwell.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Chris demanded, beating his brother to the lecture.

Nellie took her time to shake herself off after standing up and looking at the three of them head on.

"I was _thinking_ that four witches are better than three and that it's about time that you realize that I'm a witch, too!"

Wyatt seized her around the waist with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. He hoisted her off her feet and ducked into a different tunnel with Chris and Prue following. Nellie struggled until she realized that they had just barely missed being spotted by patrolling demons.

"That's why you shouldn't be here," Chris hissed at her. "This is too dangerous for someone as young as you."

"We don't have time for this," Prue said. "The ceremony will be any minute now."

Wyatt let Nellie go reluctantly. "We don't have time to orb you back, so you stay right next to me so that my shield can protect you, understand?"

"Yes, Wyatt."

Chris still looked like he wanted to object, but Prue just laid a hand on his arm, silencing him without a word.

Nellie stayed true to her instructions and shadowed Wyatt closely. Prue was immediately behind her with Chris guarding their backs. Seconds later, the Halliwells found a secluded grotto lit by more torches, illuminating an altar and corresponding paraphernalia as well as at least twenty demons.

"That's him," Chris muttered quietly, pointing out a demon that was dark brown in color with glowing mismatched eyes of yellow and red.

While her cousins focused on the demons, Nellie noticed movement in the back of the grotto. Six cages lined the back wall, two were occupied. Silently, Nellie poked Prue's shoulder and gestured to the cages. Prue nodded that she understood and grabbed the boys' attention.

"Nellie and I will get them free," Wyatt outlined. "Chris and Prue, keep them off our backs."

"Got it."

"Let's go."

Chris announced their presence by telekinetically flinging seven demons into each other with one movement. Prue mostly scattered potions that, while they were intended to act as a vanquish, at least stunned or seriously injured the demons. Wyatt and Nellie snuck around the sides, unnoticed in the chaos of movement and shouts of battle. In seconds, the two had freed the captured witches.

"Come on, I'm getting you three out of here," Wyatt said to Nellie and the two former captives.

Nellie grudgingly held out her hand only to be grabbed from behind.

"Nellie!"

"GO!" the young girl shouted as she fought against her demon captor. She saw Wyatt grimace, but orb out with the rescued witches with regret.

Nellie boosted her fight with her levitation and managed to free herself from the demon lackey. She spun around with a sweeping kick, just as her mom had taught her in martial arts lessons. Being realistic, Nellie knew that she couldn't fight alone and began looking for her sister and Chris. Prue must have sensed Nellie looking for her and fought her way to her little sister's side.

"Wyatt got them out," Nellie explained quickly.

"He's doing something!" Chris shouted from across the grotto.

Rokar was at the altar, executing some kind of spell. He held a crystal orb in one hand which suddenly let loose a wide arc of shadow that beamed to the walls of the grotto.

"Capture them," Rokar ordered lazily. "They can't escape now."

Chris orbed straight to the girls and grabbed their hands. Nellie felt her body disperse in blue-white lights, but then it felt as if she had run into a brick wall and found herself on the ground with a ringing in her ears.

"I just placed a shield around this grotto," Rokar explained to them. "Nothing can get out now."

Chris and Prue struggled to their feet, still ready to keep up the fight. But Rokar still had one more ace up his sleeve.

In his hands was a crossbow.

"Did I mention that I stole this from a darklighter?"

The demon fired before Chris fully processed what had just happened. Due to the close range, the arrow pierced Chris' midsection on the left side and passed straight through his body, missing Nellie on the ground by inches. The girl scrambled to her cousin's side as he crumbled to the ground. Prue remained standing, standing over the two like a protective lioness.

"You two might not be susceptible to darklighter poison, but an arrow wound in a vital place will kill you just the same," Rokar threatened. "I suggest you give yourselves up."

"Why?" Prue demanded. "So that way you can sacrifice us and gain our powers? I don't think so."

"What do you say now?"

The cross bow was aimed at Nellie. With Prue's attention caught up, a demon was able to slip behind her and strike a blow to her temple, knocking her out cold. Nellie found herself between both Chris and Prue's prone forms and surrounded by demons.

A moment later, Nellie was locked in one of the cages she had recently opened with Chris and Prue in the cells next to her. The other two had been stripped of any potion vials, but none of the demons—including Rokar—thought to search Nellie. Their other fatal flaw was in the design of the cages. The grotto was tall enough that the cage bars extended up for at least fifteen feet; too high for anyone to jump certainly, but there were no ceilings to the cages.

All Nellie had to do was bid her time.

Rokar and most of the demons left, apparently preparing for the upcoming ceremony that would include three witches instead of two. Only two were left and they were guarding the entrance and ignoring the captives. Nellie crouched near the bars that separated her cell from Chris'.

Chris struggled to drag himself over, but got close enough that the demons couldn't overhear them. He reached down his leg and unfastened a hidden sheath for an atheme.

"They missed it," he explained to Nellie. Chris handed it to her through the bars. "I can't orb well with the poison in me," he continued. "Can you get up and out and take out the guards?"

"Yep."

"We're counting on you, Nellie."

The girl nodded solemnly and handled the athame with care. She stood up, taking a deep breath, and reached inside her for the magical well of her power. Just like someone preparing to leap, Nellie bent her legs and then _pushed up_ to gain a decent height. She used the bars for handholds to continue her upward climb until she vaulted over the tops of the bars and allowed her power to decrease slowly to land lightly on her feet.

Still silent, Nellie crept across the grotto, completely unnoticed by the demons. She was a foot away from them when she levitated to just above their heads. Guessing her plan, Chris called out from his cell.

"Over here!"

The two demons turned around in surprise, giving Nellie the best opportunity to stab the athame through one's chest, catching him on fire until he was vanquished for good. Nellie used her momentum to flip upside down and over so that the force of her spin resulted in her foot in the second demon's chin. That demon fell back through the entrance of the grotto. His body encountered the force field that Rokar had put up and shorted it out, resulting in the shield coming down and the demons vanquishing himself accidentally.

Just in time; Wyatt had apparently brought the cavalry in the form of Melinda, Tris, the twins, and Henry.

"Hurry, Chris needs to be healed," was all Nellie would say.

Wyatt didn't hesitate and raced into the grotto, using a potion to blast the lock on the cell, and kneeling by his brother.

"She did good," Chris mumbled as Wyatt held glowing hands over the arrow wound.

"Well, she is a Halliewll," Wyatt responded once he was done.

He and Chris headed to Prue's cell and broke in. Wyatt picked her up in his arms.

"Let's get out of here. We can come back to vanquish."

"Rokar will just get more witches," Nellie argued. She and the others had come in and met the boys at Prue's cell.

Nellie dug a potion vial out of her pocket and handed it Chris.

"Get him to somehow drink this, and he should go poof," she explained.

"Okay, Melinda and Maddi stay with us, everyone else get out of here," Wyatt ordered.

With a collective sigh at being sent away from the fun, the cousins gathered around for orbing. Skye and Tris took Prue off of Wyatt's hands while Henry grabbed Nellie.

Later:

It wasn't until later that evening that Prue came to Nellie's bedroom. Nellie looked up from her homework and joined her sister on the bed. Prue took Nellie into her arms and squeezed.

"I'm sorry."

Nellie snuggled into her sister. "I'm sorry, too. I just wanted to prove that I'm not the baby."

"It tough for all of us, no matter if we're oldest, middle, or youngest," Prue said. Nellie only nodded. She might not like being the youngest, but she had seen that day how Wyatt, Chris, and Prue were expected to lead and act to protect everyone.

"That potion you made worked like a charm, I heard," Prue went on. "If you want, you can start working on potions with me."

"I'd really like that."

"All right, munchkin. Tomorrow, I promise."

Eight older cousins and sisters might make Nellie feel smothered, but at the end of the day, it also meant that she got to cuddle up with them and get all the benefit from their collective experiences.


	9. Aunt Prue

Happy dance! 26 reviews! At this rate, I'm going to be on a review high for a week straight. My friends are starting to get slightly concerned.

This chapter is brought to you in part by: piperspeanut

See, I did get to your suggestion. I only hope that you don't mind if I strayed too far from what you wanted. This was what felt right to me, which I hope that most people agree with. Also, I love how you mentioned a specific moment in your last review. I hadn't even intended that to be as funny as it turned out, so it's great to find that out from someone reading it for the first time.

Thanks to you others who reviewed! Keep the comments and the suggestions coming!

Madeline Grace and Gabrielle Skye Mitchell, aged 14

Skye would later come to understand the adage that listening to gossip about oneself would never sound good. Not that she was eavesdropping and overhearing stuff about herself, but rather her twin, Maddi.

From an early age, Skye and Maddi realized that they were not meant to get along. At school, they most definitely represented polar opposites of scholar and jock and even within their family gatherings, Maddi would join up with Tris while Skye would either remain on the sidelines or spend time playing with Henry and Nellie.

For that reason, Skye wasn't entirely sure why in this particular moment she was actually acting more like Maddi than she ever had before in her life. Unreasonably, Skye blamed her aunts. Through some cosmic accident, Skye had been headed to the kitchen in the manor and nearly walked into a conversation between her aunts Piper and Phoebe. It was after Maddi had been caught sneaking out at night to go patrol parks for demons to vanquish. Both aunts had remarked on how similar Maddi was to the long-honored Prue.

On hearing that, Skye had stopped and retreated back to the attic where she had been studying. After some reflection, she realized why that statement bothered her. She felt like the only one not like a member of the family. Wyatt was the optimist, like Uncle Leo, Chris was a fighter, like all the Halliwell witches, and Melinda was strong and independent, also like all the Halliwell witches. Prue was the more mystical side of her mom, Tris was more the adventurous side, and Nellie the loving goodness that was Uncle Coop. Henry was definitely their dad's son, always ready to fight, and Maddi was apparently the take-charge personality that paid tribute to the aunt none of them knew.

And yet, Skye felt apart from this. She knew that she was not the typical Halliwell witch. Far from it, she preferred research to anything else and hated fighting demons. Even at school, she clung to the outside edges of the community, rarely speaking out or drawing attention to her self. So, was she really a Halliwell? What was it that made Maddi so like Aunt Prue? Skye was determined to find out.

With all of her research, she knew that she could easily conjure Aunt Prue's spirit and ask her directly. But, what if she refused to answer Skye's call? Spirits had that capability if they truly wanted to remain undisturbed. Skye knew that she would have to write a new spell. She sat with her pad of paper and pencil, taking up an entire page with scribbles and cross-outs until she was satisfied with the result.

"Gods of space and gods of time, hear the question in my mind. Bring to me the aunt I need, whose answers will my question heed."

Nothing happened. Skye was about to rip the spell to pieces when the familiar chime of orbs echoed in the attic. As irony would have it, Maddi walked over to her sister.

"Mom says dinner's in a half hour—what are you doing?"

"Nothing," Skye responded, quickly hiding her pad of paper.

Typically, Maddi would have none of it. "That looks like a spell. What's it for?"

"_Nothing_."

Maddi snatched the paper away before Skye could react. The expression on her face was unreadable while she read the spell.

"You're conjuring Aunt Prue?" Maddi asked in disbelief. "Not just Aunt Prue, but a living Aunt Prue since I see you aren't using the spell to call a witch from the otherside."

"I just wanted to see something for myself," Skye muttered darkly. "But it didn't work anyway."

"Maybe you need more power. Let's do it."

"Wait, what?"

"We'll read it together. What could it hurt?"

After a moment of thought, Skye shrugged and agreed. The twins read the spell in unison and waited, holding their breath.

There was a swirl of white-yellow lights that faded away into a short brunette woman that both girls recognized. She blinked in confusion, trying to conceptualize the similar but different surroundings. Finally, her eyes fell on the twin girls who stared at her in shock.

"It worked," Skye said in disbelief.

"Whoa," Maddi echoed.

"Who are you, what are you doing here, and how did I get here?" Prue Halliwell the first demanded, prepared to send the girls flying with telekinesis. When at first the girls didn't answer, Prue gestured and found that her power had no effect on the twin girls.

"We're good witches, your powers won't work on us," Skye explained. "You're in the future. We cast a spell to bring you here."

"How far in the future?"

"Over twenty years," Maddi answered nonchalantly. "We're your nieces."

Skye poked her twin in the side while Prue stared at them incredulously.

"Don't tell her too much, there could be future consequences."

"Oh please, we need to tell her some things so that you can get your answers, whatever they are."

"Are you Piper's or Phoebe's?" Prue asked, realized that the girls did have similar features to the Halliwell family. The cheekbones, for one, even though the girls had much lighter brown hair than either of Prue's sisters gave them away as relations.

"See, now what do we tell her?" Maddi pointed out. "We can always find some way to wipe her memory if we have to. Wyatt should be able to get some memory dust or something."

Skye sighed and grudgingly admitted that her sister was right.

"I think we need to start at the beginning," Skye started. "You have another sister, a half-sister, who is our mother. She meets Aunt Piper and Aunt Phoebe and takes up her magical heritage when you… well…"

"When you die," Maddi finished for her rather bluntly.

"I—how do I die?"

Glaring at her tactless sister, Skye answered. "A demon kills you. Well, he throws you and Aunt Piper through the wall, and the window I think, and Uncle Leo heals Aunt Piper first and couldn't heal you both."

Both girls knew the story just as all the other Halliwell children learned as part of their magical studies.

Prue sat down with a thud on the floor of the attic.

"What am I doing here then?"

"I wanted to see what you were like," Skye admitted. "Aunt Piper and Aunt Phoebe said that Maddi is a lot like you and I wanted to see for myself."

"Aunt Piper and Phoebe said that about me?" Maddi asked. "Cool."

"What do you mean?" Prue asked Skye.

Skye also sat so she could see her aunt's face. "I'm the odd witch out. Everyone else is like some member of the family, except for me."

Prue may have been utterly confused still about the information and revelations she had recently learned, but this girl was her niece and Prue couldn't allow her to feel so alone.

"No matter who you are or what you are like, you will always be a Halliwell," Prue promised the young girl. "Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

"But, I'm the shy one, I don't like fighting at all and I—"

"That doesn't matter," Prue interrupted firmly. "One day, you'll find a way to stand out and you will be magnificent. I guarantee it."

"It doesn't seem like it."

"Look, you thought of the spell, yes? That proves that you are a witch just as much as any other."

"But, all the Halliwell witches are known for being brave and powerful—"

"And weren't you brave to conjure me here? Weren't you powerful enough to come up with a spell like this so young?"

"Well, I guess, but I needed Maddi's help."

"Something that took me awhile to learn is that no matter how strong a witch is, she is always stronger when she has family with her."

Feeling some of the tension leave the room, Maddi flopped on the floor next to Skye and Prue and cut in in her usual brash manner. The three spent the next ten minutes swapping stories.

"So, I was right about Cole all along," Prue remarked.

"Yeah, but Mom said that she felt like the only one who saw what he was really like," Skye said.

"I don't know how I can go back and just let myself die or let Phoebe marry that demon."

"But, if you change something, Mom might not become a witch," Maddi protested. "And then she might not meet Dad or have any of us!"

Prue pursed her lips. No matter how much she might fool herself into thinking that she could have the best of both worlds; that is, living and still meeting Paige, she knew that she had to choose at that moment. Out of context, Prue of course would want to live, find a man like her sisters apparently had, and have her own little witches. But looking at those sisters who looked so alike and acted so differently from the other, she couldn't choose herself over them. This sister, half sister Paige, she didn't know. But Skye and Maddi she now understood.

"Can't you write a spell to return me to a split second before you brought me? Would that offset the memories?"

Skye pulled out her trusted paper and pencil and got to work, alternately accepting and ignoring Maddi's suggestions as she decided. Finally, Skye felt that she had something that would work. Maddi read the spell with her, looking over her twin's shoulder.

"Return this witch, through time and space, where new memories are, leave only blanks."

With a final wave good bye, Prue faded away back into yellow-white swirls, leaving the twins alone. Maddi looked at Skye, side-long.

"You really felt like you didn't fit in this family?"

"Well, yeah."

Maddi scoffed. "That's what we're so thankful for. At least, Tris and I think so. If we were all 'jump into battle' type people, we'd all get killed pretty quickly. We need witches like you and Melinda and our Prue who actually think first before taking on demons."

Skye stared at her twin in shock. "Really?"

"Yeah. But if you tell anyone else I said that, I will deny all knowledge of this conversation."

Skye smirked. "I expected no differently."

2001:

She was trapped in darkness, somewhere between life and death. Prue Halliwell was still aware of some things, like the last vision of Shax blowing her backwards and Piper following her. And while she didn't see it, she knew that Leo had arrived with Phoebe and had rushed to Piper's side just as Prue felt herself slip away.

She wasn't floating around because she had any real unfinished business. But she did want to stick around just long enough to see her last, baby sister whom she would never really get to meet. Prue got her chance at her own funeral. She ached from wanting to hold Piper and Phoebe in her arms, but always she held onto the hope of seeing Paige to get her through it.

At last, she saw a young brunette that had a familiar face. In a flash, Prue felt some memories restored as if triggered by Paige's appearance. Prue remembered the young twins who had called her from the future, hoping to meet her and for the one to realize her place in the crazy Halliwell family. Prue smiled—if disembodied spirits could be said to smile—and suddenly didn't feel as much of an ache, leaving Piper and Phoebe. She knew that, eventually, both would find, and in Piper's case, keep, their loves and raise wonderful children and strong witches.

She might not have chosen this exact path, but Prue felt some measure of peace in her destiny, knowing that the Charmed ones would live on and conquer and that their children would be even better.


	10. Shoot 'Em Up

In honor of 30 reviews, you get another chapter. This is so cool!

The chapter brought to you in part by: Magical Faerie. Thanks for suggesting the back drop of this chapter. I'll be using some of your other suggestions later on. Thanks for all the good ideas!

Enjoy this new installment of "Snapshots"

Christopher Perry Halliwell, aged 15

Even her children knew that when Piper Halliwell wanted her family to spend time together, it happened. That was why all three sisters, plus husbands, plus children found themselves on an extended family vacation nearly a year of demon fighting.

Demons were probably the main motivator behind Piper's scheme. Sure, the family had come together to fight evil, but lately, it was becoming much too common for dinner talk to completely revolve around hunting, potions, and anything else magic related. So, that was when Piper announced to the others that they _were_ going to clear their schedules for ten days at least and that they _were_ going to have a normal vacation as much as they were possible. No magic lessons, no powers training, and only orbing for transportation issues because plane tickets for fifteen people was just ridiculous.

Chris fought to hide his amusement. Being in the house where much of the planning was going on was like living in an after-school special. After nearly a month of researching, Piper had found two houses next to each other for rent in South Carolina. The destination surprisingly passed approval of everyone which came as shock for the skeptics in the family.

Not that the trip was entirely because of the upsurge in demons, actually. Piper had also mentioned how she wanted a large family vacation before Wyatt left for college. She didn't seem to realize that no matter how far Wyatt went for school, it would be a snap for him to come to wherever his family was. Being the good son that he was, Wyatt didn't say anything and just went along with his mother.

Chris was even more amused by the fact that Piper was willing to let them orb to the opposite side of the country. Apparently a little personal gain could be ignored. So, those that could orb—Paige, Wyatt, Chris, the twins, Henry, and Grandpa Sam—were each assigned a number of people and their suitcases to transport to their temporary homes.

Once there, the rooms quickly were snatched as cousins raced to be paired with their favorites. The smaller house was claimed from the beginning by the parents. All six of them agreed that some time slightly away from children was needed as well. They were still next door and everyone saw each other during the day…but at least at night the parents could spend some private time together.

The larger house had four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The two grandpas would be staying with the kids just in case of an emergency. The three boys shared a room and the girls split themselves in half: Tris, Maddi, and Nellie together and Prue, Melinda, and Skye in another room. All in all, everyone was happy with the way things were turning out.

Granted, San Francisco wasn't a cold or cloudy place to live, but South Carolina was definitely "fun in the sun" type weather. The first five days at least were spent at the beach. Literally everyone found something to do. Piper and Paige took time to lay out in the sun. Coop convinced Phoebe to take long walks down the shore. Leo and Henry Sr. would often be found with the younger children building sand castles and playing in the water. Wyatt, Chris, Prue, and Melinda found a volleyball net and ball and would occasionally join a game with other teens on vacation.

It was during one day of play that Chris came across his brilliant idea.

Uncle Henry, Maddi, Tris, Nellie, and Henry had been in the middle of a water gun fight. Somehow in his imagining, Henry had acted out a demon being vanquished. The others had just laughed it off, but Chris couldn't forget the sight of Tris aiming her Bazooka gun at her cousin with near deadly accuracy and then Henry's dramatization.

Even Wyatt had stared at Chris in shock when Chris explained his new method of demon fighting. Wyatt had even tried to argue with him, but never getting out a half word at most before stopping and realizing that Chris was on to something.

It wasn't as if the sisters would have ever conceived putting potions into squirt guns.

All in secret, Wyatt, Chris, Prue, and Melinda worked on testing this technique by lying their pants off. Claiming that they were headed into town to hang out with other teens, they were actually able to orb home for an hour or two tops to whip up a potion and then actually try it out in the underworld. The cousins were a little more proactive in their demon hunting than their mothers already.

The new method worked just as well as throwing vials, without loosing the vials in the vanquish. The squirt guns could be used again and again and also had the advantage of storing a greater amount of the potion. After a few days, Grandpa Sam finally caught on to them and demanded an explanation. Once Chris walked him through their process, the whitelighter's only response was, "Just don't tell your mothers that I knew about this."

With his implied blessing, Chris felt like he needed to test the theory more; truly push it to the limit. Would the potency of the potion eventually eat through the plastic of the gun? After all, some potions could eat through doors, walls, and so on. And some potions required that they be thrown at a person's or demon's feet rather than making direct contact. Wyatt and Melinda wanted him to put these thoughts on hold.

"We already know that it works for the basics. Let's get back to vacation and experiment further when Mom is less likely to kill us," Melinda said.

"But, we're on a roll here," Chris argued.

"We should enjoy the time that we have right now," Prue put in sensibly.

All three unconsciously looked to Wyatt. After a moment of thought, Wyatt took in a deep breath. "We leave it alone for a few days. When we get back to classes at magic school, we'll start this as an independent project or something."

Among the cousins, Wyatt's word was becoming law. He was the twice-blessed, wielder of Excalibur, and the oldest. Plus, they all trusted in him and trusted him to do everything in his power to keep them safe. Over the past year, none of the cousins ever felt unjustified in that trust.

But Chris couldn't let it go. So, for the first time in his memory, he disobeyed his brother. At least, it was the first time he disobeyed Wyatt concerning magic. The brothers had, of course, had their quarrels as children, but they had mostly grown out of it. Until now.

Now even more secretly, Chris had to begin sneaking out at night to expand his research about types of potions and their executions in the underworld. After three nights, Chris got in over his head down there and barely got out alive. The potion had been less effective on its own and really needed two other potions working with it. Problem was that Chris, like most humans, only had two hands and thus could only shoot two potions at a time. Too bad he only figured it out in the middle of the battle. Finally, he was able to orb to safety in the manor attic, drop off the potions and squirt guns, and orb to the rented cottage.

To avoid waking his brother or cousin, Chris orbed into the hallway outside of the four bedrooms. Feeling a bout of midnight munchies, Chris started toward the kitchen. He stopped when he saw one of the girls' room doors open. Wyatt, dressed in pajama shorts and a tank top, stepped out into the dark hallway and looked up, unsurprised to see his brother.

Chris froze, knowing that he was in for it. But Wyatt only jerked his head toward the kitchen and began walking. In absolute shock, Chris followed in a daze. In the kitchen, Wyatt got out a bottle of milk, two glasses, and the plate of fresh baked cookies made that day by Melinda and Nellie. Chris sat as Wyatt brought over the snacks and joined him.

"Were you looking in on the girls?" Chris asked, trying to fend off the inevitable.

Wyatt grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. I've been obsessing a little lately about making sure that everyone's safe. With everyone together like this, it's been easier than orbing across town."

After a moment of silence, Wyatt started the conversation again. "Have trouble tonight?"

Chris looked up. "What do you mean?"

"You smell like ashes and there are some burn marks on your clothes."

"Oh. Um, a little. Triple potions don't work so well with our new trick."

"And you couldn't wait two more days to figure that out with the rest of us so that we could guard each other's backs?" Wyatt demanded softly, with just a hint of steel in his voice.

Chris shrugged. "Just thought that it would save a little time. Every little bit helps, you know."

"In the long run, when we're not even being directly threatened, two days wouldn't have made a difference which is why I said that we would wait."

"Look, you aren't right all the time!" Chris half-shouted.

"Oh really? Look me in the eye and tell me I was wrong about this," Wyatt challenged.

Chris at first stupidly tried to do that exact thing, but looking into Wyatt's hazel eyes undid him and he looked away.

"Damn it, Chris, I could have lost you."

Chris looked back up quickly. Wyatt's face was a map of confusion. Anger in his eyes, but a creased forehead for concern. His lips were tight to hold back any further outburst, but they also trembled slightly in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Wyatt."

Wyatt swept a hand over his face, as if to wash away those tell tale signs of his complicated mood. Chris reached for a cookie and took a bite, savoring the rich chocolate chip and butterscotch flavors. Wyatt copied his move and also closed his eyes in pleasure. The brothers grinned at each other.

"So, am I forgiven?" Chris asked in a jesting tone, but he meant the question seriously.

"If I had really wanted to stop you, I would have bound your powers for the rest of vacation," Wyatt informed him. "I might have been pissed off that you didn't listen to me, but you're pretty thick in the head. You only learn from experience."

Ignoring the quip about his denseness, Chris raised his milk glass in a toast.

"I can't say that I promise to listen more," Chris started. "But I do promise that I'll consider more."

"I suppose that's all I can ask," Wyatt sighed dramatically.

After finishing their plate of cookies and glasses of milk, the boys cleaned up and headed to their room. On the way, Chris stopped at the first girls' room, that of Tris, Maddi, and Nellie. He ghosted in and peered at his cousins in the dark. Tris and Nellie shared one bed, though Nellie was about to fall out. Chris gently settled her back in and tucked the blankets back around her. Maddi had lost a pillow at some point which Chris replaced. In the next room, Chris saw Wyatt picking books of Skye's bed and placing them on the bedside table. Prue and Melinda were fine as they were.

The brothers met again in the hall before continuing to their own room. Chris crawled into bed with Henry, wrapping the young boy in his arms. Wyatt kissed Henry good night and ruffled Chris' hair.

It was an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't reveal what had happened that night to the others. Even as Wyatt was the unofficial king of the cousins, so Chris was his second in command. Prue was their conscience and Melinda their rock and faith. The younger cousins needed to see that unity and leadership, especially with Wyatt and Chris.

Being the two oldest, strongest, most powerful witches of their generation was an enormous task. They would always be grateful that there were two of them.


	11. Power Gone Rogue

Hello again

I am so sorry that it's been so long since I've updated. Any college student can relate to class work piling up and then moving back home and job hunting and dealing with parents….etc. I hope that you can forgive me for not updating as often as when I first started this out. Even if I make you wait this long again, please do check on me every once and a while until you see this labeled as "Complete." If not, then something is on the way, just maybe not as quickly.

And with no further excuses and babbling, here is the update you've been waiting for. Please enjoy.

Prudence Marian Halliwell, aged 17

All day long, Prue could feel her temperature rise and her vision blur. At first, she attributed her feelings to skipping breakfast; she had simply not been hungry that morning and had left for school early. By third period English she found herself drifting off while reading Shakespeare. So, Prue convinced herself that she would perk up after lunch. But just smelling the cafeteria food made her feel nauseous and she only got down an apple and some iced tea.

When it came time for physical education, Prue finally acknowledged that she was coming down with something. It couldn't be blamed on her period; she probably just had a bug or something. As luck would have it, her cousin Chris was in the same gym class.

"You look like the Underworld warmed over," he commented as they met up after changing into uniforms.

"I'm too wobbly to even dignify that with a response," Prue muttered.

Chris' smirk disappeared from his face and was replaced with concern. "What's wrong?"

"Just a stomach flu, I think. It just hit me."

"Why don't you sit out today?"

"Do you remember who our teacher is?"

There was a reason for the stereotypes of gym teachers. Mr. Caldwell kept the stereotype of driven, uptight, and never accepting excuses type teacher going strong.

"Then take it as easy as possible. And then go home after this, you look like a lower level demon could take you out."

"You're really helping, Chris. Thanks."

By then, the two had joined the rest of their classmates who assembled in front of their terror of a teacher.

"Suicides!" he barked. "Go."

Suppressing groans—it would only enrage their teacher—the students lined up and set off to running back and forth, using the different lines on the gym floor as a guide. Suicides, also known as the shuttle run, were aptly named. Prue ignored the others around her and just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Had it been straight running, she might not have had as many difficulties, but having to bend down to touch the line over and over was taking a toll.

"Halliwell! Faster!"

Chris was at least three lines ahead of her, so she knew that the comment was meant for her. With visible effort, she pushed up her speed, but apparently not enough.

"Halliwell! If you don't speed up, you'll be doing these all period!"

The shouted rebuke echoed in Prue's ears, and then she experienced a slip of concentration. Suddenly, the world was sideways and she couldn't figure out why.

_PANIC_

_Concern_

_Disgust/hatred_

_Whirling _

_Sympathy_

As multiple hands reached out to Prue, she felt a hurricane of emotions break over her mind. Prue's empathy had never caused problems for her; in fact, it had been carefully controlled from the beginning since Phoebe insisted on teaching all of her daughters basic meditation, and more advanced techniques for Prue when that power did emerge.

Now, the unconscious shielding that Prue practiced every day was whipped away like a feather on the wind, exposing her to her classmates' raw emotions.

"Prue? Prue, wake up…"

Through the wall of teenage angst and alarm, Prue dimly heard a solid voice: Chris.

"Shields, gone," she whispered brokenly, her eyes closed to slits in pain.

She saw Chris' eyes widen in shock before watching him get pulled from her side by Mr. Caldwell.

"Halliwell, lie still," he said brusquely. "Everyone else, get back."

As soon as the teacher's hand made contact with Prue's forehead, she felt a rush of darkness, fear, and struggle impact her close to shattering mind. Prue cried out and tried to roll away from that wretched touch.

"Halliwell, stay back!" Caldwell barked to Chris who had come forward to aid his cousin. "Go get the nurse."

Prue heard another voice volunteer to go instead, followed by footsteps and the surge of _purpose_ that came with a scared teen that was given something productive to do to re-focus her energy.

Chris must have defied Caldwell because Prue felt his hand on her arm and the rush of _concern/protection_ that came with her cousin's touch.

"I'm not leaving her," Chris said firmly. He turned back to Prue. "Can you stand?"

Locking her gaze on Chris' face as an anchor, Prue nodded shakily. Chris kept his hand where it was and moved the other to her back, easing Prue to her feet and draping one arm around his shoulders.

"I'm walking her to the nurse and then I'm calling her parents to take her home," Chris told Caldwell in tones that brooked no dissention, even from a teacher.

As they walked away, Prue was still feeling everyone else's emotions. Among the still present panic—though it was dying down—Prue felt a flash of angry disappointment.

"I think he's trouble…" she muttered.

"He's just an ass," Chris assured her.

"No…there was something more…"

Not only did Prue hear Chris' dismissal of her words, she _felt_ it in every fiber of her being. That brush off spiraled into doubt in Prue's thoughts. Could she just be hallucinating? Reading evil intentions in a teacher's surly disposition? Her twisted mindset was a feed-back loop, a cycle that only compounded itself.

And continued contact with Chris was not helping matters. His concern was now overwhelming her, but she knew she couldn't stand on her own. Not only that, but his frustration was building to the point that Prue could almost read his thoughts. He was royally pissed off at Caldwell, anxious about her lack of shields, worried about how much longer she could last, and frustrated that he couldn't just orb her home without notice.

And all the while, Prue was also picking up on the entire student body's chaotic emotions. Test anxiety, heartbreak, friendship drama, infatuation, rivalry, success, failure… She flinched at every turn, eyes closed in pain, with a death grip on Chris arm.

After Chris bullied his way to the nurse and through Phoebe's secretary via phone, some of his emotions lessened, so Prue suspected that her mother was on the way and none too soon. Luckily for Prue, the release of tension in Chris was due to Phoebe's permission for him to take Prue home himself. It was enough for the nurse and principal, so Chris waited until the coast was clear and orbed the two of them directly to Prue's bedroom.

Prue dry-swallowed cold medicine—it was likely that the breach of her powers was tied to her sickness—and isolated herself in bed. Chris had closed the curtains, killed the lights, and plied her with cold, wet washcloths for the headache. He left her alone after surrounding her room with crystals spelled to keep out emotions, though he wouldn't leave the house until Phoebe came home.

After some indefinable time for Prue, she felt the strong beacon of her mother's emotions, as familiar to Prue as her own emotional center.

Prue whimpered slightly as her mother came closer. Phoebe must have correctly interpreted the whimper and paused. The crystals could keep emotions from _outside_ the room out, but had no effect on any emotion found _inside_ the room. Prue felt the renewed strength in her mother's shields and blissfully felt alone in her mind once more.

"Sweetie, is that better?"

"Yeah. I don't know how this happened…"

"If our powers are tied to our emotions, it makes sense that they are also tied to our well-being."

"Mom, I have to tell you about my teacher—"

"Chris told me what you said. Honey, you could have just misinterpreted what you felt and there were so many other people around—"

"I know that I can be wrong!" Prue screamed in frustration. "But I've never felt that from anyone else before and even if I'm not understanding the details, I know that something is wrong!"

Rather than prolong the argument, Phoebe had left her daughter without a satisfactory conclusion. Prue slipped into a patchy sleep due to the mounting fever. In moments of wakefulness, she either forced liquids and medication down her throat or attempted meditation. She had the room to herself since Tris had grabbed days worth of clothing and was sleeping on the floor of Nellie's room. In sporadic moments, just as she was drifting in between dreaming and waking, she could swear that she felt that same dark and complicated presence. And yet each time, it would vanish just as she would fully wake up.

Within the next day, Prue had her shields back up and felt like she had kicked the worst of the cold off. She hadn't mentioned the dark presence she had felt to her family even though she was now certain of its authenticity. Instead of going through the arguing and disbelief, Prue snuck over the Manor to read the Book of Shadows and then brewed several potions.

She kept several vials with her on her first day back at school. She had put herself on such a high alert, scanning for the presence and waiting for its move that all she needed was the barest hint of panic to spur her into action.

The panic came from Melinda, a freshman at the same high school with Prue and Chris. Prue could read any of her cousins like a neon sign and knew that this was the type of panic that came with demon attacks.

Prue raced for the competition gym, sending a call to Chris as she ran.

She arrived to a scene that she had expected and dreaded: Mr. Caldwell was in the process of strangling her cousin. Without a second's hesitation, Prue kept running and tackled her teacher to the ground, freeing Melinda to stagger away for a few feet, heaving to intake oxygen. Caldwell turned his attentions to Prue with an evil glint in his eyes.

Prue hurled the first vial of potion at her teacher just as Chris burst into the gym. The man shuddered once, and then fell to the ground, leaving behind a shadowy form of a demon. Prue was consider herself lucky later on that Chris was quick to recognize the possessing demon and moved to back Prue up.

"This is for thinking that you could kill me off while I was sick!" Prue spat angrily and threw the vial with the second potion, vanquishing the demon.

Chris rushed to his sister and helped her to her feet.

"You okay?"

"Sorta," the young teen replied hoarsely. "I think I'll fake a cold and say that Prue got me sick so I can go home."

"Just take the rest of the period off and take a walk. You shouldn't get in the habit of skipping school every time you get attacked by a demon," Prue semi-lectured.

Chris gave Prue a long, measuring look which Prue returned fearlessly.

"I'm sorry," Chris finally said. "I should have listened to you when you said that something was wrong."

"Yes. You should have," Prue agreed, not letting him off the hook.

"What do we do about him?" Melinda asked, gesturing to the still unconscious Mr. Caldwell.

"Get out of here before he wakes up," Prue answered, leading the other two out of the gym.

Once they were alone, Chris turned to Prue again. "What are the odds that he becomes a better teacher now that he's not possessed by a demon?"

"I may not have premonitions like my sister," Prue said. "But I'd say the chances are slim to none."


	12. Hellion

Hello again

Sorry it's been awhile. I have lots of chapters planned, it just depends on my schedule whether or not I write them out.

Anyway, enjoy!

Henry Samuel Mitchell, aged 11

The dark haired boy stood before the desk without a shred of self-recrimination. Typically, being sent to the headmaster's office was tantamount to a lecture, extra work, or even a short suspension and letter home to parents. Henry wasn't nearly as worried as he should have been.

The headmaster, who was also Henry's uncle Leo, stared at the boy intensely, wondering at how to handle the situation. This may have been the first time Henry had been sent to him for disciplinary action, but it wasn't the first time Henry had acted out in magic school and he had only been attending for a year.

After long moments of silence, Leo finally spoke to his nephew.

"I have reports from various students and teachers that you were fighting in the corridor earlier."

"Yes, sir," Henry answered; all the Halliwell children acknowledged the difference between their uncle Leo and the headmaster of magic school.

"Henry, do you honestly think that I won't punish you for this just because I'm your uncle?"

"No, sir. I know that I've got to write an essay about fighting and us being on the same side and that my mom and dad have to be told."

"Then why did you attack those other children."

"Well, it happened like this…"

_Nellie was the last of the Halliwell cousins to begin lessons at magic school. Being the youngest of the family, she was used to getting and doing everything last. Since Henry was the youngest of three siblings himself, he could relate to Nellie a lot and he was sure that their cousin, Melinda, felt the same way._

_Henry was a boy of action. He liked his freedom and didn't handle boredom well. So, when he found some students his sisters' ages teasing Nellie about being replaceable, Henry didn't exactly stop to consider the consequences before jumping in. _

_Most of the kids at magic school grew up with using their powers to do their fighting. While Henry didn't ever neglect his magic, he also had a cop as a dad and tended to use his fists and feet first. The other students had next to no clue about how to handle this kind of assailant. Once five of them gathered enough of their wits to fight back, Henry simply began implementing his power of intangibility so that their own attacks passed harmlessly though his body._

By then, teachers had burst into the corridors and separated all the children. The bullies had begun their accusations immediately while Henry had stood still with a slight smile on his face. Some of the gathered students who had watched were his twin sisters. Skye—she was starting to refuse answering to Gabby—looked as if she was trying not to smile. Maddi didn't bother hiding her pride in her little brother. Nellie stood between them, as if still hiding from the small-minded young witches. Nellie herself was big-eyed and looking at Henry as if she couldn't believe what she had seen.

"While that's very noble of you, Henry," Leo said after hearing the boy's story. "You can't fight everyone you get angry with."

"But, they were being mean to Nellie!"

"I know that, and I will be talking with the other students about their behavior as well."

At that moment, one of Leo's teaching assistants poked her head in the door.

"Excuse me, sir. Henry's mother sent a message that she can't come pick him up right now, but your son, Wyatt is here to bring him home."

"Thank you, Willow."

Henry met his uncle's eyes steadily while Leo tried to think of anything else he could say to get through to him.

"In that case, I'll stop by later tonight to talk to your parents. You have a paper on instances in magical history that happen due to anger due on my desk next week and you are not to come back to school here for three days. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

Henry walked out of the office, still without any acknowledgement that he had done something wrong. Once he was gone, Leo finally allowed himself to smile in a small amount of pride. He was glad that Henry had an instinct for protecting his cousin, he just wished the boy would think for once before acting.

Wyatt's expression was a cross between Maddi and Skye's while he waited for his only boy cousin to come out. While no longer a student, Wyatt still heard all the gossip.

"Hey, buddy," Wyatt said when Henry exited the headmaster's office. "Dad wasn't too hard on you, was he?"

"Just what would happen to anyone," the boy shrugged. "I'd do it again."

Wyatt chuckled. "That doesn't surprise me. Now come on; I've got to take you home and pretend that you're being punished."

The boys orbed directly to Henry's bedroom in the Mitchell house. Wyatt set Henry up with school books and homework and waited for either his aunt or uncle to come home. Henry Sr. came home first.

"Hey, Wyatt, what's going on?"

Wyatt explained the altercation and shared a smile with his uncle. Henry watched his nephew orb away before walking into his son's room.

"All right," Henry Sr. started off as he walked through the door. "Before your mom gets here, let's get this clear."

Henry Jr. had looked up from his notebook when his father had walked through the door. He continued to stare as his father spoke.

"Good job sticking up for your cousin."

Both Henrys shared identical grins.

"And you didn't try to get out of punishment, so that's good, too. Now, what aren't we going to tell Mom?"

"That you didn't yell at me for fighting."

"Right on. And what aren't we going to tell Uncle Leo?"

"That you didn't tell me not to do it again."

"That's my boy."


	13. Daddy's Girl

Hey everyone. I know it's been a while, but if you check my author page, it mentions that these updates will be few and far between. Apologies in advance. Any way, I found some time to get this chapter worked up and I hope you like it.

So, enjoy!

Melinda Faith Halliwell, in utero

"Leo, I'm pregnant."

The former Avatar, former Elder, former whitelighter spat a mouthful of coffee back into the mug before it could go down his esophagus. Light colored eyes flew up to his wife's face which had that secret content smile he recognized from when she was pregnant with Wyatt when she wasn't throwing up.

"Really?" was the only word he could choke out, absentmindedly putting his mug down and reaching for her hand where it rested on the table.

"Yeah. Two times already, I think I know when we're expecting."

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Any problems yet?"

"Well, nothing magical yet. And no nausea, thank God. I was thinking that this time, we might actually go to the doctor before there are problems…"

Having over sixty years worth of memories, there were many of them that Leo wished he could forget. One was the horrendous affair of Chris' birth. Even with the absolute relief that both Piper and Chris made full recoveries, it had still made his stomach plummet when he heard of the complications that happened with the labor.

"Do you think we should be worried because of what happened last time?" he asked.

"I think that we should go to an expert and ask."

"Whatever you want. I'll be right there with you."

ooo

Despite it being his third child, it was Leo's first time in the examination room with an ultrasound. No ultrasounds with Wyatt and he hadn't been around with Chris.

"All right, you know the drill I think," Dr. Reynolds said as she pushed up Piper's shirt and squirted some gel on her slightly protruding stomach. Leo watched on as an image appeared in grainy black and white on the monitor. Within seconds he had adjusted to watching the images shift and change as the doctor manipulated the imaging device.

"Okay, there's the heart right there and it's giving a good steady heartbeat from the looks of it. So that's the head right there. See?"

"Can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?" Piper asked.

"Sure, we just need to wait to see if the little one will shift ever so slightly, ah, there we go. All right, I'm pleased to announce that it's a—"

ooo

"It's a girl!"

Leo waited as patiently as he could until his little girl was safe in his arms. Each time he had held his children for the first time, he knew immediately that each was perfect. Wyatt and Chris were his boys, but this little girl was special. She was his only little girl. His princess, his angel.

"Hey, little one," he said softly, slowly walking over toward the bed where Piper lay smiling. "Your mom and I have been waiting a long time to meet you."

Ever so carefully, Leo sat on the edge of Piper's bed, shifting so that Piper had a good view of their daughter. Piper lifted a single hand and stroked the infant girl's cheek.

"Our little Melinda."

Aged 5

"Daddy!"

Leo carefully maneuvered himself from out underneath the kitchen sink where he had been fixing a leaky pipe.

"Sweetie, where are you?"

Pitiful sounds could be heard from the landing of the staircase. On the landing, Melinda lay sprawled in a heap, with one leg twisted underneath the rest of her body and crying large, fat tears down her face. Leo rushed up the stairs and picked up his daughter, taking her in his arms and down to the living room couch.

"What happened? Did you trip?"

"Wyatt an' Chris were playing tag and I wanted to play, too, only they were orbing, and I tried, Daddy, I really tried but then I fell down the stairs an' my foot hurts."

There were actually some small sobs and sniffles in between her words, but Leo was well versed in understanding the broken speech of young children at that point in his life.

"Well, let's look at that foot then, okay?"

Leo eased the bright pink sneaker off Melinda's foot and then the ruffled sock. After two boys, Piper had the most fun picking outfits for Melinda and Leo had to admit that he loved seeing his daughter in colorful dresses with ribbons and lace. He made a big production out of examining her foot before declaring it safe and whole.

"There, just a kiss—and you're all better."

Melinda sniffed some tears again, still pouting. Leo moved from kneeling in front of her and then swept the little girl into his lap.

"What's wrong, baby girl?"

"Daddy, why can't I orb like Wyatt and Chris?"

"Well, you know how mommies and daddies give part of themselves to their children? Like Wyatt has blond hair like me and you and Chris have brown hair like Mommy?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, Daddy used to be able to orb, and that's when Wyatt and Chris were born. But then I gave up my powers and Mommy and me had you."

"So I'm not special like Wyatt and Chris."

Leo hugged her tightly, shaking her a little. "You are very special. You are my special little girl."

"Daddy…"

"It's true. Look, you wanna know a secret?"

"Yeah!"

"When Mommy was pregnant with Wyatt, we thought he would be girl," Leo whispered, as if telling a most important confidence. Melinda giggled. "See, one time, Mommy went to the future, and she saw our little girl. When she came back, we just thought that we would have our girl first. But it was Wyatt. And we love him, and we love Chris. But you, my princess, we have been waiting for you for a very long time. You are our only little girl and that makes you special."

"Love you, Daddy."

"Love you, too, princess."


	14. Graduation and Grandmother

So, instead of my little challenge, recent events have inspired me to write this little bit in celebration for achievement and remembrance of love. So, congratulations to everyone who is graduating middle school, high school, college, or graduate work, or anyone just celebrating the end of another year.

In memory of Helen and Joyce, my grandmothers who I miss terribly and hope are proud of me. You are never far from my heart.

Patricia Charity Halliwell, aged 22

Clad in her black cap and gown with tassel and cords, Tris shifted from foot to foot, waiting to find her family in the crowd of graduates, professors, and family members.

"Tris!"

The newly graduated young woman was tackled from two sides by her older and younger sisters.

"God, it is so hard to sense for you with everyone else on overdrive," Prue complained lightly. "Mom and Dad are hovering by the car and sent us in."

"Surprise party at the Manor?" Tris guessed.

Nellie grinned. "Yeah. We told Mom that you'd figure it out, but she kept on insisting that we keep it from you."

"Well, Maddi and Skye helped orb all off my stuff back home, so I'm good to go," Tris assured them.

Arm in arm, the three sisters navigated their way through the mob and escaped to their parents. The drive home took two hours and then an extra twenty minutes to arrive at Halliwell Manor which was a second home to Prue, Tris, and Nellie. Only their aunt Piper and uncle Leo lived there as their cousins had all moved out on their own.

Of course, in honor of Tris' graduation, the manor was packed full of people when they pulled up.

After posing for countless pictures, Tris shed her over-gear, feeling much more comfortable in her sundress. Piper, Melinda, and Prue had been making food all day—except when Prue had gone to attend commencement—while the other cousins had helped to decorate. Skye took Tris' cap, cords, and diploma and placed them at the small table set aside for Tris' accomplishments. After posing, Tris felt as if she were being passed from person to person in an endless round of hugs and congratulations. One of the last to squeeze her to death was her grandfather, Victor.

"I am so proud of you," he said with tears in his eyes. "Your grandmother is smiling down on you, too, I'm sure."

"Thanks, Grandpa."

Much later, as Tris was getting ready for bed, she flashed back on her grandfather's words and felt a few tears drip down her cheeks. She had noticed many grandparents in the audience during the day. Not that she didn't appreciate her parents and sisters, but it was so common to see her classmates posing for three-generation pictures. And it wasn't as if she herself didn't have that opportunity once she had reached the party with her grandfather, and sort of grandfather, Sam. But she didn't have a picture with her grandmother, the woman for whom she had been named.

Tris came to a swift decision and went to the trunk at the end of her bed. From inside she gathered five large candles and matches then paced out a pentagram on the floor of her room and lit the candles.

"Hear these words, hear this rhyme, spirit from the other side," Tris chanted. "Come to me, I summon thee, cross now the great divide."

She had called spirits before, but had never had a response happen so quickly. Almost before the last syllable had left her mouth, a swirl of golden yellow sparks gathered in the circle of flame and solidified into the form of a brown haired woman in her thirties.

"Hello, my darling."

Tris restrained herself until her grandmother stepped beyond the candles and became solid before reaching out her arms, desperate for touch. Patty Halliwell didn't hesitate and gathered her granddaughter into her arms, rocking her gently.

"I really wished you could have been there today," Tris confessed.

"I know. I was watching and wishing I could be there with you."

Tris looked up into matching light brown eyes. "Really?"

"Of course. Forty years of watching with only a handful of moments being able to interact does not exactly balance out."

Tris sniffed slightly. In actuality, she hadn't even seen her grandmother since Henry's Wiccaning which had been almost twenty years previously. All she had were pictures and small mementoes shared by all the cousins.

"I just kept thinking today, that it wasn't fair for any of us," Tris babbled, suddenly overcome by emotions. "And then I remembered that scene in _My Big Fat Greek Wedding_ when it's the night before her wedding and her mom and grandma are there and the grandma shows her the wedding box and I won't get to have a moment like that…"

"I know, darling. It was hard for your mother, too, and your aunts. It still is, I think. You just need to always trust that I am watching you and I am so proud of you."

Because of her other callings, Tris knew that it wasn't unusual for Patty to leave so quickly—spirits could only stay so long on the earthly plane without special circumstances. And unfortunately, Tris and her need weren't special enough.

But she had had that one moment and had heard the words she needed to hear. Even if she never saw her grandmother again—and if she hadn't been a witch, she wouldn't have even been that lucky—she would hold onto this moment with all her heart.


End file.
